Hamantaschen/Almond Shortbread
This almond shortbread is based on the recipe that comes courtesy of Lechamim bakery. For my workshop, we did a nut-free version, without the almonds too. It's is a light, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth dough. Almost like the base of an apple pie or a liner torte. And it pairs so well with the fruit or chocolate fillings. When you chill the dough in the fridge, the butter stiffens the dough and makes it easier to work with. They stay fresh for about 4 days. The dough freezes well before baking.
Servings: 35
Ingredients
Almond Shortbread
- 200 g butter (cold)
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 50 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk (beaten with the egg)
- 400 g flour
- 50 g almond flour (or more regular flour)
- 1 tsp salt
- Egg wash (mix the leftover egg whites with water)
- Various fillings of your choice
Instructions
- Cube the butter but keep it cold. place it in the bowl of the mixer. Add sugar and beat until combined (about 30 sec). mix well but not airy.
- Add beaten eggs and mix until combined. scrape down sides and add flours and salt. mixed until combined. remove from bowl and mix together until combined - this may involved finishing by hand.
- Transfer the dough to a bag or sheet of plastic wrap. compress it (pack it tightly) and chill in fridge for at least one hour but up to 5 days. it freezes well for up to one month.
- When ready to begin forming the hamentaschen: Allow the dough to warm up slightly so that it can be rolled out. Set it out on a floured work surface and roll it out to about 1/4” thick. This is a little thicker that most recipes recommend, but I found it was easier to work with and gave prettier results. Move the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick to the surface. Cut circles with cookie cutter or cup - 3" diameter is best. Optional but useful: Place circles back in the fridge for about 10 minutes, while you gather the dough and roll out more circles.
- Place a small dollop of filling (poppy, prune, nutella and lotus were some of our favourites!) in the centre of the dough. Brush egg white around the edges of the circle. This is important so that your hamentaschen sticks together. Pinch the edges together form the triangles cookies (note to self: I should take a photos of how I do this - this is actually so much trickier than it seems! it really takes a bit of practise). Have a light hand when doing this, and take time to shape the cookies into the look you want. This dough is nice in that it can be sort heal cracks by a light rub of the finger...
- Bake in oven at 350F/180C for about 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden. Allow to cool.
